Melvin and Kayla | Lincoln City, Oregon

I met Mel and Kayla on a stormy February afternoon at the coast. I was in Lincoln City for work capturing stories for work and met these two at a community room in a local apartment complex. Mel is an affable and gracious 90-year-old World War II veteran now considered legally blind and Kayla is his lifeline to the outside world serving as his home visiting care provider. Kayla is a single mother of four who lives day-to-day with bipolar disorder but manages her symptoms and makes it to work everyday through medication. Mel lost everything he owned in a house fire a month earlier, but on this day he was excited to have had a cheeseburger with Kayla at a local lunch spot even if it was overpriced. As I spoke with them, it was easy to tell that they shared an earnest bond rarely seen in today's relentlessly polarized and cutthroat climate--one of endurance and courage in their willingness to share, and unapologetic honesty and selflessness in their desire and will to help one another.